IU Basketball Coach Kelvin Sampson has been rebuked by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the NCAA recruiting violations he admitted to while still a coach at Oklahoma University. The Star's Mark Alesia reports that Sampson will not be allowed to receive Final Four ticket privileges or consideration for district or national coach-of-the-year honors for a period of 3 years. He will also not be allowed to serve on NABC committees.
Earlier, Sampson was barred by the NCAA from conducting off-campus recruiting and from placing recruiting phone calls for a one-year period as punishment for making more than 500 impermissible recruiting phone calls while he was still coaching at Oklahoma.
I know that many IU fans are very excited about Sampson coaching at IU, but I have a real problem with rewarding an admitted cheat with such a coveted coaching position in hopes that he will play by the rules in the future, particularly a coach with a history of low academic performance from his players. This latest rebuke by his own coaching colleagues is yet another avoidable embarrassment to IU's athletic program.
I'm an IU grad. Twice. I was disgusted at Coach Knight's conduct toward the end of his career.
ReplyDeleteI was somewhat pleased with Coach Mike's performance. Tough job to follow Knight, and at the core, I never doubted Mike's ethics and judgment.
Sampson is slimy. The new AD chose him. He'll have to live with it. This is embarrassing to the university.
Hail to Old IU.